Milley joined the Army in August 2009. After training, he arrived at Fort Polk in August 2010. He deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in October 2010.

1st Lt. Milley’s awards include the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the NATO Medal and the Army Service Ribbon. He completed the Infantry Officer Basic Course, Airborne School and Ranger School.

Sudbury, MA -- Scott Milley, 23, a 2005 graduate of Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, was killed in Afghanistan yesterday during the first month of his deployment with the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division, according to his father Steven Milley.

Steven Milley said his son wanted to be in the Army since he was three years old. Milley said his son had an "incredible love of life - absolutely not a care in the world and absolutely filled with laughter - until he put his uniform on. And then he became my proudest moment in my life."

Milley was captain of the L-S varsity hockey team and graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 2009, majoring in psychology and was the executive officer in the school's ROTC program. His father said Milley planned to join the FBI or CIA after his military service.

"I'd like the world to know about Scott, that he wanted no praise for anything he did'' said his father. "We used to find commendations tucked away in drawers. He wanted no limelight and no praise."

But Milley did accomplish much in the Army. He graduated the grueling Ranger school and was featured on a Discovery Channel show. Of the 338 cadets who started Ranger school, only 90 finished. Milley was deployed with the 10th Mountain Division to Baracki Barak, Afghanistan.

After a month in the country, Scott Milley was killed while on foot patrol by small arms fire, his father said. The family does not know any other details about the death. A pair of military officers delivered the news to Scott Milley's mother, Janice, Tuesday evening.

The family, including Milley's older siblings Steven and Ashley are flying to Washington D.C. late today to meet his body and have been told President Obama will meet the body when it arrives in the U.S.

Lt. Colonel Paul Webber, professor of military science in the UNH ROTC program, recalled Milley as a committed student and dedicated officer.

“Scott was an exceptional young man,” Webber said. “He was in my first class when I came to the university and after he graduated we had the opportunity to work together for the summer. He was everything we could have asked for in a cadet and his death is such a loss. Scott was the best that our organization represents. His death is a devastating loss to his family, to the Army and to the nation. We are all mourning Scott’s death and our sympathies go out to his friends and family.”

First Lieutenant Scott Milley of Sudbury was captain of his high school ice hockey team and a cum laude graduate from college, but since the age of 3 his ultimate goal was to join the US Army.

Milley, 23, was killed Tuesday in Afghanistan’s Logar Province when insurgents attacked his unit, according to the Department of Defense.

Milley, a 2005 graduate of Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, was the first person from Sudbury to die in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Sudbury’s director of veterans services, Brian Stearns. News of Milley’s death rocked the community.

“He was the most lovable kid I ever coached,’’ Peter Elenbaas, one of Milley’s hockey coaches, said in an e-mail to Lincoln-Sudbury staff. “He combined the toughness of a prize-fighter with the effervescent joy and energy of a teenage boy. Truly, a treasure of this high school.’’

Milley’s father, Steve, said yesterday that the family was devastated.

“From the time he was 3 years old, that was his absolute dream, to be an Army man,’’ Steve Milley said. “His dream has now become the family nightmare. The family’s heart has been broken. Our baby son has gone.’’

Scott Milley was caught in a firefight outside Baraki Barak, his father said. Milley was an Army Ranger in the 10th Mountain Division and had been in Afghanistan for only a month.

“He was the happiest, most joyful person without a care in the world,’’ his father said. “His first e-mail home was, ‘Boy, this country’s beautiful.’ ’’

His goal after serving in the military was to join the FBI or the CIA, his father said.

Lincoln-Sudbury’s superintendent, Scott Carpenter, said Milley was popular in school and a prominent student athlete. “The type of scholar he was here and the type of leader he was amongst his peers would have prepared him well for anything,’’ said Carpenter, who was Milley’s house master.

Visitors streamed in and out of the Milleys’ home to comfort the family yesterday, said Alison Corwin, who lives next door.

“It’s such a quiet little town; you don’t expect anything to happen,’’ she said. “It’s definitely a shock to the community.’’

Town officials released a statement yesterday afternoon extending condolences to the family and said they would wait to hear from the family before planning a memorial.

"He's the true American hero, he has always wanted to serve his country," said his uncle Fran Brown.

A flag flutters in the afternoon wind outside the Sudbury, Massachusetts home of First Lieutenant Scott Milley, just 23 years old, shot to death Tuesday in Afghanistan.

He was an elite army ranger in the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division who had arrived overseas less than a month ago.

His aunt told me he was a gem, captain of the hockey team at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, a 2005 graduate who then went on to the University of New Hampshire.

There he was in the ROTC program and graduated with honors in 2009.

He has the sad distinction of being the first serviceman from Sudbury to die in Iraq or Afghanistan.

"And I hope we don't have any more, I tell ya. It's just not a good thing. He served his country well and we're very proud of him," Stearns said.

"He loved god, country, and family," Brown said.

Scott Milley was baptized on the day of his ranger graduation.

He leaves behind a close-knit family, his parents and an older brother and sister.

Back outside the family home, his uncle Fran Brown said his nephew always wanted to be a soldier.

"Everyone is very devastated, it's going to be a long time before anyone gets over it," Brown added.

In an email sent this morning to the Lincoln-Sudbury staff, his hockey coach, Peter Elenbaas wrote,

"I had the privilege of coaching Scott for four years in hockey. He was the most lovable kid I ever coached. He combined the toughness of a prize-fighter with the effervescent joy and energy of a teenage boy. Truly, a treasure of this high school."